Birthrights
by ScarletEvolution
Summary: As the firstborn 'son' of Hamato Yoshi, Leo was automatically entitled to leadership, from the moment Yoshi decided to raise Leo and his brothers as his own. It was clear to Yoshi that Leo was the eldest, and would someday make a great leader of the Hamato 'clan'. However, what Yoshi wasn't counting on, was for his second oldest son to have inherited a birthright of his own.


_A/N: Hello Tacos. I had an idea. Don't want to interrupt the flow of the story too much, so..._

_Disclaimer: Don't own nothing but the computer I'm writing on. No, wait, that's not mine either. :(_

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><p>Leonardo was the oldest. Hamato Yoshi needed no proof – he just <em>was. <em>

And sure enough, had anyone been there to witness the moment of their hatching, the one who would become Leo was first to emerge from his egg. Raphael had hatched next, followed by the smallest, Donatello, and the one and only Michelangelo.

Over the following two weeks, the baby turtles grew rapidly, passing the time with games of rough-and-tumble, (almost always instigated by Raphael.) Unknown to them, on the other side of the world, a tragedy was unfolding.

With his beloved Tang Shen murdered before him, and his dearest daughter Miwa lost to the flames, Hamato Yoshi headed to New York with a heavy heart. He carried nothing except clothes, money, precious keepsakes, and tentative hopes for a fresh start. Yoshi had just settled in, and was looking around his new home-town, when he saw the sign.

'Turtles 4 Sale.' It wasn't particularly big, or particularly eye-catching, but for some strange reason, Yoshi was drawn to it. In Japan, turtles were considered bad luck, as they resembled a demon called 'Kappa.' But Yoshi went into the pet store nonetheless.

The way he saw it, he couldn't possibly have any _more_ bad luck.

When he went in, he was greeted by the sight of four baby turtles lazing in a small plastic tank. The biggest was snapping playfully at one of the others, before the forest-green turtle nudged its attention away from the smaller terrapin. The last turtle, apparently a little over-excited, reared up to scrabble at the glass. With a quiet thump, it fell back on its shell, and struggled to get up. The smallest one came over to look at its brother's predicament, its head tilted in a way that was almost… _human?_

Yoshi, enchanted by their antics, bought all four of them.

One rude stranger, a shadowy encounter in an alleyway, and a canister of ooze later, and Yoshi found himself transformed into a strange rat creature, with four baby mutants in tow. He fled into the sewers, stopping only to scoop up the turtles, and go back for his belongings.

The years passed, and his adoptive sons grew into fine young warriors.

It was hard to tell which qualities were from their human DNA, and which ones came from their terrapin heritage. Donatello was the tallest now, despite being tiny as a child, and Yoshio believed that was a human trait from himself. Michelangelo didn't seem to have inherited much from Yoshio, if anything at all, so the ninja master had assumed Mikey had been handled by someone of a similar personality.

Leonardo was most like Yoshi, although it was difficult to tell how much of that was genetic. He was an amazing strategist, keen to learn, and Yoshi's clear choice for leader. If Yoshi was being honest with himself, Leonardo was pretty much the perfect Chōshi, or firstborn son.

Raphael had always been wilful, head-strong, and Yoshi recognized that from own life. Raph also had anger issues, albeit far worse than Yoshi. As children, Leo and Raph had always been good friends, if a little too competitive for their own good. Sure, they had argued, but nothing a good lecture didn't fix.

And then, they hit the teenage years. Leo had a fairly easy adolescence (apart from, you know, all the aliens and mutants and being a giant turtle.) Any problems were rectified quickly and quietly. Raphael however… Disobedience, and answering back, and sneaking out, and mood swings so volatile they scared even Yoshi.

And the _arguments._

Leo and Raph would argue, Raph would storm out, Leo would wait for him to come back, they'd argue again, stalk off to bed, wake up giving each other the silent treatment, and make up just long enough to think of more things to fight about.

Yoshi decided to meditate on it, one last time. It was a many faceted problem, their reasons for incessant fighting. They were both opposites and equals, fire and ice, yin and yang. Both were very driven when it came to protecting their brothers and making a difference, but the way each turtle went about it was starkly different to the other.

Raph needed freedom, a guiding hand, opposed to forcing him into doing the right thing. Leo, however, exerted control in all things, especially when it came to his brother's safety. Both had the qualities of an admirable leader, but it was Leo who had been chosen for the task, causing an even greater rift to form between the two brothers. All of Leo's brothers had been a_ little_ jealous, but it was Raphael who truly hated being led.

All of these were contributing factors, Yoshi was sure of it. But he couldn't help feeling there was still something he was missing. But _what?_

A random memory floated up from Yoshi's subconscious. It had been a particularly bad fight, age thirteen, and Raph had opened up in a rare moment of self-reflection.

_"I can't help thinkin' that... I was never meant to be led."_

And then another memory, as vivid and unexpected as the one before it.

_"Now, you've gotta be real careful of this one around springtime, dude. They, like, fight for control of the females. Even though you don't have any, this one will be like, real aggressive. He's the alpha male, you know?"_

Yoshi realised now, one of the underlying reasons for their conflict. Some animalistic fight for dominance; after all, Leo never fought this badly with his other siblings. As dictated by traditional Japanese law, Leonardo was the heir to the Hamato 'clan', and rightful leader of their brotherhood.

But it seemed Raphael had inherited a birthright of his own.

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><p><em>AN: Okay, so let me explain. I know Master Splinter was all like "I chose you because you asked." But that's bull in my opinion. Even if it was subconscious, Splinter must've been influenced by his Japanese upbringing, at least a little bit. And, although it's not really official, Leo is supposed to be the oldest, so in traditional Japanese families, he would be the rightful leader._

_Also, I have a pet theory that Raph would be the alpha, had they all stayed normal turtles. I know Leo has better 'leadership qualities' or whatever, but having a cool head is not very relevant when you're fighting for control of the females. As well as this, does Raph seem more animal than the others? Just me? Okay._

_ P.S - I know Donnie-boy is the tallest in 2k12, but I'm assuming that he would've been the runt of the litter, and got his tall-ness from Splinter. Don't hate me for making him the runt turtle - everyone loves the little guy._

_Love it, hate it, review it. I'll give you metaphoric chocolate cake if you do._


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